Electrical terminal structure

ABSTRACT

This disclosure is concerned with a novel electrical terminal structure embodying insulative clamping members having cooperative interlocking tubular extensions securing a thin housing or similar support wall and a component-mounting heatsink plate sandwiched therebetween, and with the upper clamping member being provided with recess means for receiving and locking therein the head of a terminal post passed through the tubular members.

United States Patent Minks 1 [.54] ELECTRICAL TERMINAL STRUCTURE [72]lnilentorz Floyd M. Minks, Route 1, Box 66,

Kissimmee, Fla. 32741 [221 Filed: Dec.23, 1971 '21 Appl. No.; 211,571

[52] U.S. CL, ..174/153 R, 174/15 R, l74/DIG. 5,

' 317/100 [51] Int. Cl. .;..H0lb 17/26, H02b 1/02 [58] Field of Search..174/15 R, 16 R, 52 S, 153 R,

174/D1G. 5; 317/100, 234 A; 339/126 R [56'] References Cited UNITEDSTATES PATENTS 1,813,716 7/1931 Thordarson ,.174/153 R 1,932,456 10/1933Gaston ..174/153 R X 2,125,060 7/1938 Barnes et al.. ..174/153 R2,388,054 10/1945 Hartzell ..174/153'R X 7/1950 Breisch ..174/153 R [is]3,705,258 1451 Dec.5, 1972 6/1954 Elliott ..174/153 R 3,015,687 1/1962Ruscito ..174/153 R FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,004,012 11/1951France ..174/153 R Primary Examiner-Laramie E. Askin Attorney-Rines &Rines '57 ABSTRACT This disclosure is concerned with a novel electricalterminal structure embodying insulative clamping members havingcooperatii/e interlocking tubular extensions securing a thin housing orsimilar support wall and a component-mounting heat-sink plate sandwichedtherebetween, and with the upper clamping member being provided withrecess means for receiving and locking therein the head of a terminalpost passed through the tubular members.

6 Claims, 1 Drawing Figure ELECTRICAL TERMINAL STRUCTURE The presentinvention relates to electrical terminal structures, being moreparticularly concerned with the application of such structures tothin-walled housings orchassis mountings and the like that are tosupport heat-sink-mounted electrical components and similar structures.

a The art is replete with numerous types of electrical terminalconstructions andmounting structures for heat sinks'and relatedapparatus, ranging from nuts and bolts to solderedlugs, brackets,eyelets, and a host of complicated fastening devices. The complexity ofassembly and disassembly and the time for effecting the same areincreasingly important factors, however, in low cost mass production ofmany systems; and in certain applications, such as thin-walled housingsfor engineignition circuits and the like, which may be potted and which'expose only terminal ports or connectors,

the ease of ,alignmentvof the posts, the. assembly thereof, and thesecurity against loosening are particularly o'fconcern; 3 I

A useful prior terminal unit for some ofsuch applications is disclosed,for example, in my prior United States Letters Patent No. 3,359,530,involving a grooved'insulating member for receiving a contact pinadapted to receive a contact member, and inner and outer plate-likemembers for the insulating member provided with tabs connected thereto.There are instances, however, where the terminals are to be disposednear electrical components mounted upon a flat, heat-sink plate or thelike that is to be juxtaposed with a thin-walled housing, and where suchprior constructions would still necessitate separate plate-mountingstructures and securing devices. There are also applications where smallsize and minimum securing devices are advantageous. It is-to thesolution of the problem of providing a unitary structure that not onlysupports the terminals but also enables the-same simultaneously to actas the securing members for the heatsink or similar structures, and withminimal size,

number of componentsand time of required assembly,

that the present invention is thusprimarily directed.

Afurther object of the invention is to provide a new and improvedself-aligning and clamping electrical terminal structure of more generalapplicability also.

Other and further objects will be explained hereinafter and are moreparticularly delineated in the appended claims.

In summary, the invention contemplates a self-aligning and clampingelectrical terminal structure for mounting upon a thin conductivehousing wall and the like having, in combination, cooperative-flatinsulative clamping members one of which is provided with upwardlyprojecting hollow tubular means of a predetermined outer diameter andthe other of which is provided with downwardly projecting hollow tubularmeans of a slightly greater diameter for fitting over to interlock withthe upwardly projecting hollow tubular means, with the latter of lengthsufficient to pass through and extend somewhat beyond aligned somewhatgreater-diameter aperture means in each of a thin housing wall and athin juxtaposed conductive component-mounting heat-sink plate sandwichedbetween the clamping members, the said other clamping member havingflanged locking recess means on its upper surface for receiving andlocking against rotation The invention will nowbe described withreference to the accompanying drawing, the single FIGURE of which, is anexpanded isometric view of a preferred construction illustrated prior tothe assembly of the elements thereof to show the details thereof.

Referring to the drawing, a thin conductive wall of a housing or thelike is shown at 1 upon which a conductive flat heat-sink plate 2, as ofcopper, is to be mounted in juxtaposed relationship (in someapplications, with a thin insulation sheet 3 interposed, such as a thinpolyimide film ;or t'he like), the, plate carrying electrical componentssuch as solid-state devices 4 the housings-of which are mounted contactwith the upper surface of the plate '2 to be radiation-cooled thereby, aI,

In accordance with the invention,'termina l connectors 5 are to beinsulatingly mounted near't his structure, the terminals beingillustratedas comprising flat rectangular heads 5' and having threadeddepending posts 5" and integrally bonded or otherwise providedelectrical leads 5" extending upwardly therefrom in the drawing. Thestructure above the wall 1 may be potted, as is required in the ignitioncircuit and similar applications before discussed. Through the use ofnovel cooperative insulating clamping members, as of plastic, shown asan upper unitary member 6 and a lower member 7, .the terminals maythemselves not only be readily aligned in their desired positions, butthey may also simultaneously serve to align and secure thecompleteassembly 1-3-2-5, as well, and prevent rotation.

To effect this, the lower clamp 7 is provided with a pair of hollowtubularmembers upwardly projecting from the flat bottom portion thereofat 7, while the upper 1 clamping member 6 has corresponding downwardlyextending hollow tubular projections 6' of slightly different (e.g.,'greater) diameter. for fitting with the tubular members 7f ininterlocked fashion. Prior to such reception, the member 7 is applied tothe lower surface of the wall 1 with the tubular members 7 insertedwithin'aligned similar holes or apertures 1', 3' and 2' of therespective members 1, 3 and 2, of just slightly greater diameter thanthe outer diameter of the tubular members 7 The length of the tubularmembers 7' is sufficient to extend somewhat above the heat-sink plate 2so as to enable facile assembly of the structure The upper clampingmember 6 is then applied with the depending tubular members 6' thereofinterlocking with the tubular members 7 to complete the assembly,

'with the housing wall 1, insulator sheet 3 (if used) and juxtaposedheat-sink mounting plate 2 sandwiched between the clamping members 6 and7.

The upper clamping member 6 is provided along its flat upper surfacewith flanged rectangular recesses 6" of just greater dimensions than theflat correspondingly rectangular heads 5 of the terminals 5 such that,when the threaded posts 5" are inserted through the tubular members 6and 7 (that insulate the same from any possible contact with thesurfaces 1 and 2), the heads become received within the recesses 6" andare thereupon locked against rotation, providing relatively large-areaclampingsurfaces as well. Threaded nuts 8 on the free ends of the posts5 extending beyond the bottom surface of the lower insulating clampmember 7, enable ready tightening of the clamped assembly, exposing onlythese free ends below the wall 1.

While rectangular heads 5' are preferred, other configurations providingrotation-preventing geometry may also be used, asmay other modificationsbe effected without departing from the spirit and scope of the inventionasdefined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A self-aligning and clamping electrical terminal structure mountedupon a thin conductive housing wall or the like having, in combination,cooperative-flat insulative clamping members one of which is provided'upper surface receiving and locking against rotation thecorrespondinglyshaped head of a conductive electrical terminal provided with. postmeans projecting downwardly through the hollow tubular members and theinterposed wall and plate and providedwith securing means at the freeend thereof for holding the strucwith upwardly projecting hollow tubularmeans of a ture together.

2. A terminal structure as claimed in claim 1 and in which a thininsulative sheet is sandwiched between said plate and housing wall andis provided with aperture means corresponding to and aligned with theplate and housing wall aperture, means.

3. A terminal structure as claimed in claim 1 and in which each of saidtubular means, aperture means and locking recess means comprises aspaced pair of such means.

4. A terminal structure as claimed in claim 1 and in which the saidlocking recess means and the terminal head are of similar rectangularconfiguration, with the latter of slightly smaller dimensions than theformer in order lockingly to fit therein.

5. A terminal structure as claimed in claim 4 and in which the head isprovided with a connected electrical lead extending upwardly therefrom.

6. A terminal structure as claimed in claim 1 and in which thedownwardly projecting tubular means is of slightly greater diameter thanthe upwardly projecting tubular means. I

1. A self-aligning and clamping electrical terminal structure mountedupon a thin conductive housing wall or the like having, in combination,cooperative-flat insulative clamping members one of which is providedwith upwardly projecting hollow tubular means of a predetermined outerdiameter and the other of which is provided with downwardly projectinghollow tubular means of a slightly different diameter for fitting andinterlocking with the upwardly projecting hollow tubular means, with thelatter of length sufficient to pass through and extend somewhat beyondaligned somewhat greater-diameter aperture means in each of said thinhousing wall and a thin juxtaposed conductive componentmountingheat-sink plate sandwiched between the clamping members, the last otherclamping member having flanged locking recess means on its upper surfacereceiving and locking against rotation the correspondingly shaped headof a conductive electrical terminal provided with post means projectingdownwardly through the hollow tubular members and the interposed walland plate and provided with securing means at the free end thereof forholding the structure together.
 2. A terminal structure as claimed inclaim 1 and in which a thin insulative sheet is sandwiched between saidplate and housing wall and is provided with aperture means correspondingto and aligned with the plate and housing wall aperture means.
 3. Aterminal structure as claimed in claim 1 and in which each of saidtubular means, aperture means and locking recess means comprises aspaced pair of such means.
 4. A terminal structure as claimed in claim 1and in which the said locking recess means and the terminal head are ofsimilar rectangular configuration, with the latter of slightly smallerdimensions than the former in order lockingly to fit therein.
 5. Aterminal structure as claimed in claim 4 and in which the head isprovided with a connected electrical lead extending upwardly therefrom.6. A terminal structure as claimed in claim 1 and in which thedownwardly projecting tubular means is of slightly greater diameter thanthe upwardly projecting tubular means.